Partners

Tandan Trust

Organization Overview: Tandan Trust, an offshoot organization of Sunbird Trust, focuses primarily on the social and educational sectors where it caters to children, youth, and women from 11+ villages including Sinam Kom, the base village through community empowerment and engagement, collaboration with the community towards maximizing the available natural and human resources towards sustainable living.

Sunbird Trust

Organization Overview: Sunbird Trust is a non-sectarian Civil Society Organization, working with the objective of Peace through Education and National Integration in conflict-affected parts of North East India. It’s largest footprint is in Manipur. The core objectives of Sunbird Trust are to bring communities to live and work together in harmony and to build bridges between people and the Armed Forces. The Trust’s principal work involves educating and empowering underprivileged children and youth to make better life choices. A Brief on Sunbird Trust is attached. Three primary areas of focus are:-

• Student sponsorship in school or college to provide financial access to education
• Building schools and hostels to provide physical access to education
• Fostering integration, peace and acceptance of diversity

Through its sponsored students, Sunbird Trust also engages with its extended communities in the field of livelihood generation.

Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology

Organization Overview: Hume Centre primarily works with the communities of the Wayanad district in Kerala. This area is one of the top biodiversity hotspots of the world and unfortunately highly threatened due to increasing anthropogenic pressures on natural resources such as unscientific and erroneous land use, destructive agricultural practices, and extreme weather events in recent times. Hume centre undertakes systematic research on vulnerable ecosystems, threatened species, agroecosystems, and the impact of climate change. They work on transferring the novel scientific knowledge to the participating communities and institutions while imparting contextualized science education to young generations to build a scientific understanding of biodiversity conservation ground-up

OneAll Trust

One All Trust uses mixed-gender sport (notably Ultimate Frisbee) combined with life-skills, leadership training and educational support to engage adolescents from tribal and marginalised communities—helping reduce school dropouts, build self-confidence and enable inclusive youth development in underserved rural areas.

Agape Friendship School

Agape Friendship School provides accessible education to children from Raenghzaeng, Churachandpur District, Manipur and eight nearby villages who previously had to walk long distances to attend costly private schools. Beginning in a repurposed government building, the school now serves 114 students from Nursery to Class 5 and plans to expand up to Class 10. It primarily educates children from agriculture-based households belonging to the Rongmei, Zeme Naga, and Kuki tribes, with ongoing support from Sunbird Trust.

Bumblebee Society

Bumblebee Society strives to normalize disability by raising awareness and sensitizing communities toward inclusion and equality. The organization focuses on promoting inclusive practices among key stakeholders, including parents, caregivers, teachers, and government institutions. Its work centres on improving and enhancing the lives of persons with disabilities and underprivileged children through accessible healthcare services and the promotion of quality and inclusive education.

Dhwani Foundation

Dhwani Foundation works with NGOs, foundations, governments, and other sector stakeholders to address critical challenges and strengthen the overall development ecosystem. The organization provides comprehensive capacity-building programs, technology solutions, support services, and strategic collaborations designed to enhance institutional effectiveness. Its initiatives focus on building organizational capacity, increasing visibility and fundraising capabilities, streamlining support functions and processes, facilitating the induction of independent board members, and offering cloud-based MIS software to help organizations efficiently manage project data and impact.

AsHA Foundation (Altruism Society for Honour Assistance)

AsHA (Altruism Society Honour Assistance) is a public charitable trust established by a group of committed local youths, the organization was formed to address the socio economic challenges faced by flood-prone rural communities in the region. Kachukata and its surrounding villages experience frequent flooding and soil erosion due to the Gongia River, which severely impacts agriculture—the primary livelihood source—and forces families to relocate or migrate in search of work. Recognizing these hardships, AsHA works to improve community resilience through initiatives in livelihood development, education, and social welfare. The organization also focuses on enhancing access to quality education, addressing teacher shortages, and fostering long-term sustainability and empowerment for marginalized families in disaster-affected areas.

Hope Foundation Society

Organization Overview: Hope Foundation was started as a local school in Tamei in 1997 catering to the educational needs of the remote tribal communities of Tamenglong district. In the past decade, the organization expanded its scope in quality education by partnering with Sunbird Trust. Realising the possibility of scaling up their impact through collaboration, Hope Foundation now partners with Sunbird Trust, Barefoot College and agri-expert Mr.David Gandhi on building sustainable livelihoods for the women farmers of the area.

iLAB (Innovation Laboratory)

iLAB (Innovation Laboratory) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Kerala’s coastal communities build resilience, enhance digital literacy, and create sustainable livelihoods. Since 2016, it has worked with children, youth, and women to break cycles of poverty, strengthen local capacities, and foster community-based solutions to climate and economic vulnerabilities through fellowships, training programmes, and enterprise support.

Maolkeki Foundation

It is a pioneering organization established with the purpose of bringing positive development in Manipur by designing and implementing socially impactful initiatives in agriculture, education and healthcare building sustainable social enterprises. The organization is driven by the belief that no one party can solve society’s challenges – working together through strategic partnerships, grants and direct investments can.

ACCORD (Action for Community Organisation, Rehabilitation and Development)

Action for Community Organisation, Rehabilitation and Development (ACCORD) is a non-profit working with the Adivasi communities of the Gudalur Valley in Tamil Nadu. Partnering with the Paniya, Kattunayakan, Bettakurumba, and Mullukurumba tribes, it promotes land rights, health, education, and sustainable livelihoods. Through initiatives such as the Gudalur Adivasi Hospital, Vidyodaya Adivasi School, Adivasi Innovation Hub and Just Change India Producer Company, ACCORD enables community-led development while preserving cultural identity and strengthening local governance under the Adivasi Munnetra Sangam (AMS).

Fourth Wave Foundation

Fourth Wave Foundation (FWF) is a child-centric organisation committed to building inclusive, resilient, and empowered communities by working with schools, families, and local systems. The foundation focuses on ensuring that children—especially those from underserved backgrounds or living with disabilities—are given equitable opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. FWF’s flagship initiatives address inclusive education, substance-use prevention, and community mobilisation, using a model grounded in behavioural change, ecosystem strengthening, and long-term sustainability. Their programs bring together educators, government institutions, youth, and volunteers to create safe, supportive environments for children.

Pallium India

Pallium India is a national palliative care organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people facing serious health-related suffering. The organisation works to integrate palliative care into India’s healthcare system by combining direct patient services with capacity building, policy advocacy, and community engagement. Through partnerships with hospitals, state governments, and civil society institutions, Pallium India focuses on ensuring access to pain relief, training healthcare professionals, and shaping a compassionate ecosystem where individuals with life-limiting conditions and their families receive holistic support.

David Gandhi

Introduction: He is an Indian citizen having 30+ years of experience as Technical Advisor and Manager for sustainable rural livelihood development programs. David has worked extensively with International Donors, innovators, State Governments and CBOs in India and abroad. International experience includes assignments in countries in Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Africa, Southern Levant and the Caribbean. Since 2016, he has been based in Aben village and has been working with the Village Development Committee as a Volunteer Advisor to promote Sustainable Agriculture and Holistic Development in the hill district of Manipur through partnerships with local civil society organizations. Following the success in Manipur at a local level, his work is now highly recognized in the neighboring state of Meghalaya and is being supported for scale-up in their state by the Government.

Association of Health Welfare in the Nilgiris (ASHWINI)

Organization Overview: The primary objective of ASHWINI is to establish a health system that is accessible, acceptable, effective, and sustainable, owned and managed by the communities. ASHWINI caters to the tribal community through a three-tier health system:

1. Tier 1: Trained Village Health Volunteers at the village level
2. Tier 2: Eight Area Centres manned by health Animators at the area level
3. Tier 3: 50 bedded Gudalur Adivasi Hospital equipped for secondary-level care

Recognise Rise and Empower

Entrepreneurs Associates

Prateeksha Trust

Adarsh Charitable Trust

C4CCCI (Caring 4 Childhood Cancer and Chronic Illnesses)

Madhavan Nair Foundation - Kerala Museum

RASTA (Rural Agency for Social and Technological Advancement)

WSSS (Wayanad Social Service Society )

MSSRF (M S Swaminathan Research Foundation )